..The Acupuncture Trialists' Collaboration, a group of trialists, statisticians and other researchers, was established to synthesize patient-level data from several recently published large, high-quality trials...

An interdisciplinary intervention to prevent falls in community-dwelling elderly persons: protocol of a cluster-randomized trial [PreFalls]

..To investigate characteristics and outcomes of patients undergoing acupuncture treatment for osteoarthritic pain under conditions of routine care in the framework of statutory health insurance in Germany...

..The quality of reporting was insufficient in the majority of publications. The available studies show that hypericum extract are well tolerated and seem to be effective in routine treatment of mild to moderate depressive disorders...

How objective are systematic reviews? Differences between reviews on complementary medicine

..This analysis shows that, at least in the three areas examined, systematic reviews often differ considerably. Readers should be aware that apparently minor decisions in the review process can have major impact...

..03 (1.26-3.26) and 2.35 (1.68-3.30), respectively. Results from the 6-month follow-up were similar. In conclusion, in our trials a significant association was shown between better improvement and higher outcome expectations...

..Descriptions of the interventions used in acupuncture studies are often incomplete. The aim of this paper is to describe participating trial physicians and interventions in a randomised trial of acupuncture for low back pain...

Biomonitoring of mercury in patients with complaints attributed to dental amalgam, healthy amalgam bearers, and amalgam-free subjects: a diagnostic study

..We aimed to investigate (1) to which extent headache diary variables correlate among each other; (2) to which extent they correlate with generic measures of quality of life and disability; (3) and whether correlations vary over time...

Treatment in a randomized multicenter trial of acupuncture for migraine (ART migraine)

..This paper aims to describe the characteristics of physicians and interventions of a large, multicenter randomized trial of acupuncture for migraine (ART Migraine) in order to enable acupuncturists to assess the study interventions...

Randomized trial vs. observational study of acupuncture for migraine found that patient characteristics differed but outcomes were similar

..Although systematic variations of improvements in placebo control groups would have important implications for the interpretation of placebo-controlled trials, the knowledge base on the subject is weak...

Pragmatic randomized trial evaluating the clinical and economic effectiveness of acupuncture for chronic low back pain

..The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was euro10,526 (euros) per quality-adjusted life year. Acupuncture plus routine care was associated with marked clinical improvements in these patients and was relatively cost-effective...

Effectiveness and tolerability of acupuncture compared with metoprolol in migraine prophylaxis

..In a randomized controlled multicenter trial extending over 24 weeks, we investigated whether acupuncture is as effective and safe as metoprolol in the prophylactic treatment of migraine under conditions similar to routine care...

Acupuncture for chronic low back pain in routine care: a multicenter observational study

..To investigate patient characteristics and outcomes after undergoing acupuncture treatment for chronic low back pain (cLBP) in Germany and to analyze chronification, pain grading, and depression as predictors for treatment outcomes...

..The purpose of this study was to investigate whether antidepressants are more effective than placebo in the primary care setting, and whether there are differences between substance classes regarding efficacy and acceptability...

Use of placebos and nonspecific and complementary treatments by German physicians--rationale and development of a questionnaire for a nationwide survey

..Acupuncture is widely used by patients with low back pain, although its effectiveness is unclear. We investigated the efficacy of acupuncture compared with minimal acupuncture and with no acupuncture in patients with chronic low back pain...

..We aim to systematically review and compare the available evidence for the effectiveness of pharmacological, psychological, and combined treatments for patients with depressive disorders in primary care...

..In a systematic review, we compared the effectiveness of psychological treatments grouped by theoretical background, intensity of contact with the health care professional, and delivery mode for depressed patients in this setting...

A randomised multicentre trial of acupuncture in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis--trial intervention including physician and treatment characteristics

..The assessment of the tongue is a crucial diagnostic tool of traditional Chinese medicine. In a series of studies we aimed to investigate to what extent independent raters agree in the description of morphological tongue characteristics...

[St. John's wort for depression--development of a Cochrane review from 1993 to 1996]

..Only one trial included in the 1996 version is still part of the 2008 version. Despite the large number of available trials and improvements in review methodology the current evidence is more difficult to interpret than in 1996...

Are sham acupuncture interventions more effective than (other) placebos? A re-analysis of data from the Cochrane review on placebo effects

..We report on the study design and protocol of a randomised controlled trial (Acupuncture in Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis, ACUSAR) that investigates the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR)...

..John's wort products. If the risk of interactions is adequately taken into account, high quality Hypericum extracts are an effective and safe tool in the hand of qualified health profession-als in primary care...

"Quality profiling" for complementary medicine: the example of a hospital for traditional Chinese medicine

..To investigate to which extent physicians participating in specialization and continuing medical education courses read clinical research articles and how relevant they deem this for their practical work...

..These longer term effects were more pronounced for physicians offering additional complementary methods in their practice. Improvement after acupuncture and patient satisfaction were positively correlated...

[Structure, realization and data synopsis of an observational study as part of the patient care evaluation programme on acupuncture (PEP-AC) drafted by German statutory insurance institutions]

..The aim of this trial was to examine the short-term effectiveness of a web-based coaching program in combination with an accompanied telephone counselling regarding weight reduction in a primary care setting...

Can near-peer medical students effectively teach a new curriculum in physical examination?

..2 Mio were introduced in Germany from 2002 to February 2012. We aim to provide an overview of publications reporting original data and systematic reviews from German academic family medicine published between 2000 and 2010...

Most like it but some don't--attitudes of vocational trainees in general practice towards evidence-based medicine

..63, -0.52), and CABG as indication for admission (1.68; 95% CI: 0.36, 3.01). The identification of predictors of HRQoL in the present study may aid in the further development and evaluation of cardiac rehabilitation programmes...

Acupuncture Randomized Trials (ART) in patients with migraine or tension-type headache--design and protocols

..As acupuncture has been shown to exhibit considerable autonomic effects, we tested whether the clinical effects of acupuncture in migraine prophylaxis are mediated by changes of the autonomic regulation...